Two Cats Always Fighting at Night

[ellyr]

Hi all -

My two cats Mal (female, almost 2 years) and Alex (male, almost 1 years) have started fighting consistently each night. From what I can tell, Alex is the aggressor. He starts jumping on her and chasing her, and even though she starts growling and hissing at him, he won't back off. It sounds awful, and I'm terrified that he's going to hurt her.

I did move about two months ago, and the initial move went well. They never seem to fight during the day, at least when I'm around. Every once in a while I catch them grooming each other, but at night all hell breaks loose. Quite bluntly, I love my Mal and I hate hearing her sound like she's being tormented. I'm tempted to give Alex back to the rescue group.

 

[mani]

How long have they been together?  And hopefully they are both neutered? 

Have you tried just separating them at night?  It would seem logical and may be what's needed to settle them down.  Feliway diffusers are always worth a go in situations like this. 

My boy can be a bit boisterous with my girl, and when he gets a bit OTT I give him some rescue remedy and it calms him down.

Please don't give Alex back.. I'm sure this can be worked out..

 

[rosiemac]

My Rosie and Jack can be like that, and Jack is the one who jumps on Rosie when it's dark.

I wouldn't give Jack up, l just seperate them at night

 

[sivyaleah]

I concur with the night time separation.  

When Cocoa was new to our home, Casper was more or less fine with her during the day time but still showing some signs of slight aggression later in the day by growling and general displeasure.  I didn't feel good about leaving them alone while we were in bed.  We would put her in a guest bedroom overnight.  We did this until we were positive they were able to be around each other without any chance of fur flying while we were not there for that many hours.

I don't think it would bother whichever one you separated from the other.  In fact, they might be relieved not to be under the stress any longer.  Sort of like an overnight reintroduction each day.

 

[ellyr]

Thanks for the responses. I've had Alex since June, so they've been together a while. The really awful night fighting is more recent.

 

[callista]

Can you determine if Alex is really being aggressive? With my two, Tiny can seem to be "aggressive" when he tries to play rough-and-tumble with Christy, and she hisses at him to make him back off. But he's not actually being aggressive; he's just cluelessly trying to play with a cat who doesn't want to play with him. For me, it's not a problem because Tiny gets the point when she hisses, but he didn't always. I occasionally used to have to tell him to back off, or even grab him and physically remove him (another piece of evidence that he was trying to play: It was quite safe to pick him up. Cats who are really fighting aren't safe to pick up, and it's better to just throw a coat or a blanket over them.) He's gotten more civilized over time, though.

Agreed with the separation idea. The less they have the chance to annoy each other, the better their relationship should be. If Alex gets bored at night and goes looking for someone to wrestle, he might benefit from a few more things to do at night when you're not available to entertain him.

 

[ellyr]

I'm pretty sure it's aggression.  They fly apart as soon as I clap my hands and I can touch them right after, but Mal is making seriously unhappy noises, and I've always been under the impression that play should be mostly silent.

She doesn't seem intimidated or cowed or anything like that, but I'm getting worried. 

 

[callista]

Yeah, I wouldn't say it was friendly play either--she's unhappy about it, therefore it can't be. What I was thinking that it's like with my cats; that he's trying to play with her and that makes her upset, so she warns him with those unhappy noises, and possibly smacks him with her paws if he doesn't back off.

You could try the separate-and-reintroduce method.

 

[dejolane]

Bella & Thunder always fight at night and wakes us up. Actually I don't know if they are fighting or just playing.

dejolane

 

[katluver4life]

To me sounds like Jack wants to play and Mal isn't in the mood for it. My 2 (male and female, brother and sis) do this at times. Boots is very rambunctious and often tackles his sis, Babygirl, then they go tearing through the house with Baby in the lead and Boots right on her tail. When she's had enough, she hisses at him, rarely does that stop him, it's not till she's actually crying out that he MAY stop. But it's still play, though roughly. I too would maybe separate them, but I'd also try and wear Jack out a bit before bedtime. Give him some really active playtime, to the point he is panting. Seriously, some cats need that level of activity to burn off all that energy. I bet he'd be too tired to pick on Mal after that. Keep us posted, I'd really hate for you to return Jack as it seems like a problem that can be solved.